BlackBerry App World Integrated Carrier Billing gains momentum

Mobile World Congress kicks off today and while we have Simon Sage is there in Barcelona getting us goodies, though we're not expecting there to be huge news on the BlackBerry front. However, today RIM has announced that there are now over 40 carriers around the world that have integrated carrier billing for customers to purchase apps through BlackBerry App World.

Carriers have seen an increase of 120% in app downloads by introducing carrier billing, so it is expected that more carriers will start to integrated carrier billing in the future, making it easier then ever for folks to purchases apps.

Press Release

Integrated Carrier Billing Gains Momentum on BlackBerry App World

Carriers Experience 120% increase in BlackBerry app downloads

BlackBerry App World is now available in 164 markets and territories worldwide. More than 60,000 apps are currently available on RIM's app store and over 174 million apps are downloaded each month. Over two billion apps have been downloaded to date.

The deployment of integrated carrier billing is an example of RIM's ongoing commitment to work together strategically with its carrier partners and it has proven to drive significant value for the whole mobile ecosystem, including carriers, developers, content providers and customers. Integrated carrier billing enables a user to purchase apps or digital goods (such as the additional chapters of an e-book or additional levels of a computer game) without interrupting the user's app experience. They can simply charge the purchase to their regular monthly bill, and both one-off and recurring (subscription-based) purchases are supported.

Data suggests that customers' propensity to purchase apps on BlackBerry App World increases when carrier billing is offered. After implementing carrier billing on BlackBerry App World, carriers on average experienced a 120% increase in BlackBerry app purchases by their customers, with 65-70% of their customers' purchases being transacted through the carrier.

Dario Talmesio, Principal Analyst, Informa Telecoms & Media, said: "There are clear business benefits for mobile operators when implementing carrier billing, since it enables them to build upon existing billing relationships with customers. RIM has always adopted a strategy of working constructively with operators. It follows therefore that implementing carrier billing through BlackBerry App World represents a rich opportunity for carriers."

Ronjon Nag, Vice President, App World & Intelligent Systems at RIM, said, "We're delighted that many of our carrier partners around the world have recognised the value that integrated billing provides, by making it easy and convenient for customers to purchase BlackBerry apps. RIM remains committed to continued innovation in the way we align with our partners in order to best serve customers while providing a profitable platform for the whole mobile ecosystem."

About Research In Motion
Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionised the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry® solution in 1999. Today, BlackBerry products and services are used by millions of customers around the world to stay connected to the people and content that matter most throughout their day. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. RIM is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used herein, words such as "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "intend," "believe", and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by RIM in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that RIM believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Many factors could cause RIM's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the "Risk Factors" section of RIM's Annual Information Form, which is included in its Annual Report on Form 40-F (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov). These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on RIM's forward-looking statements. RIM has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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I have carrier billing on my Torch 9810 and it is super convenient. Unfortunately it does not work on my Playbook (no surprise there as the Playbook is not tied to my cell company) but I sure wish it did.

Glad I can use papal for my app purchases, don't like dealing with the carriers too much, just like to pay my bill and that's it.
Don't want to owe my phone company anything and have them turn into "oh you owe us so much money for apps and were gonna harass you untill we get it"
Rather use paypal and payment is instant.

Sprint is a bit of a nightmare on trying to have anything slightly unusual on monthly billing, and quite frustrating to solve any problems (expect at least 40minutes and several pass-alongs to solve anything), so I hope they don't go with this. There is the option of linking PayPal to this, which is good enough for my uses.

On a weird related note, I have just reinstalled my OS6 on my 9650 for the fifth time in two days. After numerous frustrating moments trying to re-load apps, validation failures, and losing my e-mail ability several times, I finally removed BlackBerry App World 3.1.0.60 and BlackBerry ID and that enabled me to restore some of my other apps. Whatever changed recently, it appears on OS6 that if you activate BlackBerry ID and have App World 3.1.0.60 loaded prior to anything else, then it locks out all other apps. Something is definitely not right in the latest updates.

I'm going to be in App Heaven when AT&T adds their carrier billing service for Playbook! We have it for our Torch 9800 phones and it's made it so simple to buy all the cool BlackBerry phone apps we want and to have the billing on our monthly phone bill.

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